Fixing us
by Notgoodatthis
Summary: This is my first story, please be kind lol. This whole thing came to my head because I still have some problems with Season 2 Regal Believer. So, in here they are the main focus, and it's how I would have liked to see their relationship grow on the show. It's starts with a little angst, but it will get better.
1. Chapter 1

_Authors note: This is my first story so please be kind. English is not my first language, and I don't have a beta, I apologize for any mistakes in the story. And believe it or not, I don't own anything! :(_

Apparently, the people that live in Storybrooke do not need a curse to do the same things day after day. Every day is the same, with pretty much everyone starting the day with breakfast at Granny's and then leaving for work. All of them usually in the same place, gathering with the same people. This morning was no different, so as usual, the Charmings were all together having breakfast at their usual booth; it is "breakfast as a family" as Henry likes to call it.

But as much as everyone does the same thing every day, not many notice the woman sitting at the bar. Always there at the same time, always alone. Regina had always carried herself with elegancy, the proud figure of a true queen. But lately she is a completely different person, her presence a shadow of what it used to be. Who would have guess that all it would take to defeat the great and Evil Queen was a little boy? A little boy that she raised as her own and loved more than anything in the world. As much as everyone likes to forget about it, they all witnessed the transformation from Mayor to Mother, they all saw the smiles on BOTH of their faces, they all saw a happy child with a happy mother sharing snuggles and hugs and love, a lot of love.

Once again, the routine plays out, the new normal if you would. Henry gets up from the table, goes to the bar and orders yet another milkshake. While he is there, Regina approaches him "Hi sweetheart, how are you?" she asks, even though she wants to hug him, kiss his forehead and pull him into her arms like she used to do. But she knows he doesn't want that, and knows he will reject her, so she settles for small talk. "I´m ok" he answers uninterested, not even bothering to look her in the eyes. It's obvious it hurts her feelings, it shows in the tears that are welling up in her eyes, but she pushes through and tries to catch his interest. "Is everything ok with school? Do you need anything? I heard there is a new comic book of the ones that you like out, we could go and buy one…" but again he answers without looking up "No, it's alright, my mom will get one for me" and then he leaves her alone again. Like he didn't just crush her heart with one simple conversation. She stares after him, hopelessly for a minute, but then she sees the pity look Granny sends her way, so she shakes it off as much as she can, and leaves the restaurant.

Granny seems to be the only one that remembers how Henry and Regina used to be. She is conflicted, because she remembers the loving mother as much as the evil queen, so she doesn't know how to act. But the one thing she knows it's not right, is how that kid is treating Regina. It's almost as if he doesn't know her, like she is a stranger to him. That makes Granny angry, because she knows that the real problem between those two started when he found out he was adopted. It was not because of the book, nor was it because of her past. Henry just never came to terms in a healthy way with the fact that Regina hadn't given birth to him. It was painful to watch, because he was the one that pulled away. Emma thinks that Regina was never very loving with Henry, but it was the other way around. At the end, there is so much rejection a mother can take.

Granny noticed something was wrong with the queen, but she didn't worry much at first. But as the days went on, it was more and more obvious that Regina was far from fine. She goes in the restaurant, sits at the same stool, and orders the same breakfast. But it's been weeks since she ate it all, now she takes a few bites on a good day. So, when Granny notice the queen's wrist, and how thin she is, she decides that enough is enough and goes to talk to her.

"Regina, I am not going to let you leave this place until you finished at least half of that plate" Regina looks up with hollow look in her eyes, almost as if she is not even sure Granny is talking to her, and with surprise answers "Excuse me? Since when do you 'let me' do anything? Do you forget who I am? What I am capable of?" "Cut the sass kid, I know exactly who you are, and I mean every word I say. I'm not going to sit by as you waste into nothing, I'm going to make sure you keep on living long enough so that you can fix your relationship with your son". At those words, Regina's eyes tear up and she looks down desperately trying to not be seen by anyone, so Granny graves her hand gently and softly says "I know you are in a bad place, and I know you got yourself in it. But I also know how much you love Henry, and how good of a childhood you gave him. I don't agree with most of the things you have done in your life, but I think we both know you did right by Henry" Regina can't believe a word she is hearing, let alone the fact that somebody else is recognizing her place in Henry's life as his mother, so she just stares at Granny. "Look, I know we are not friends or anything, but if you ever need to talk, or if you need some advice on how to make the right calls for his sake, I am here. But don't forget he is just a kid, and he is a little overwhelm with everything that it's been happening, give him time and he will realize how much you mean to him and he will let you in again. Don't give up on him". And with that Granny leaves Regina to her breakfast.

It's weeks later that Regina finally approaches Granny. Everything was just too much for the queen, and she was desperate for somebody who would listen to her, anybody how would at least try to see things from her perspective. So, this morning Regina walks in the diner and goes directly to where Granny is standing "Can we talk please?" and when she notices the curious looks from the dwarfs she adds "In private". To that, Granny answers without looking surprise by the sudden appearance of the queen. "Sure, just wait till the rush hour finishes. Have some food while you are here".

When Granny finally has some time to rest, she motions to Regina to follow her to the office in the back. When the door is closed, she just looks at the queen, not saying anything, just waiting for her to start the conversation. But a conversation is not what comes out of Regina, instead she opens her mouth and a dry sob escapes. A broken sound from a soul that is just tired of dealing with everything. So, Granny does the only thing she can think of, and lets the queen cry her eyes out on her shoulder. The scene is heartbreaking, the mighty queen has fallen, once again robbed of the person she loves the most. After a few minutes, Regina calms herself enough to speak "I've been sending him text messages every day since he moved out, at first I asked him to have breakfast or lunch or dinner with me, but he always answered that he was busy, that that is his 'family time'" Granny expected rage to come out of the queen at those words, but she only saw hurt, a true mother hurting and longing for her son's love "so I changed my texts, and I invited him to just spend some time with me." The queen takes a shuddering breath and continuous looking down "he didn't even respond to those. Now I just send him good mornings and good night texts, telling him I love him every day, because even if he doesn't see me as his mother, he is still my son." Granny looks at the hurt expression on the woman in front of her and says "That is what you have to do, don't give up on him, and keep away from your dark past. Trust me, he will come around" "But what happens if he hates me for the rest of his life? How am I supposed to keep on living knowing that my own son hates me? How much longer do I have to look from afar as he plays with his 'real mother' and he's newly found grandparents when he doesn't even look me in the eyes when I greet him on the streets?" Regina starts crying again and in between sobs says "What's the point in living when I know he thinks his life is so much better now that I am not in it? He rejects me completely, he doesn't want anything to do with me" and she finally whispers, "I am sure he wouldn't care if I died anyways." After a few more minutes of crying, Regina looks up again, and says "I usually follow them when they go to the park or the beach. I can't help but worry whether he will be safe, so I follow them and stay far enough so that I don't even hear them, but close enough to see him smile. It hurts knowing how happy he is without me… but I would do anything for him, I am not going to put my happiness above his, so this morning I resigned myself to a lifetime of watching from a distance how my son grows up without me, to see him grow up without really being in his life. Because that is what he wants, so I am going to give it to him, even if it kills me to do it." Granny doesn't know how to answer her, because she is not sure if Henry will change his mind or not about the mother that raised him. So, she just stands there, being with this broken woman, thinking about all the times life has burned her and how much she has survived. Granny prays for Regina to have strength to survive this challenge, but most importantly, she prays for Henry to realize how much he is hurting Regina, and for him to notice how blind he is being if he really thinks he can live without his mother. Because for Granny that is what Regina is to Henry, and she knows that the kid thinks that too at the bottom of his heart, she is that boy's mother and nobody should take that away from her, not even 'the savior'.


	2. Chapter 2

_I don't own anything. Just in case you thought otherwise :P_

To say the last few months in Henry's life had been eventful was an understatement. From finding out he was adopted, to finding his biological mother, to finally breaking the curse and moving in with said new mother.

Ever since that awful day, when he found out about the adoption, Henry's world had been turned upside down. He had been angry at the time, hadn't even believed it at first. He was never really told by his mother, Snow had let it slip one day because she thought he already knew. A big overlook for a teacher, to say the least. He ran back from school that day, to the big white mansion he called home, and went straight to his mother's home office to ask her about it. Regina had been devastated, not only did she not get to bring the subject up in the way she would have liked to, Snow freaking White had done the job, in the most tackles way she could have. Her entire relationship with her son was in the balance because that woman could not keep a secret if her life depended on it! But she couldn't focus on that, she had the make sure her son was alright, and make him understand that him knowing about the adoption would not change their relationship at all…

Let's just say things didn't really go very well. After Henry had asked about it, she had looked him in the eyes and replied "Yes sweetheart, it's true. I adopted you when you were only 3 weeks old" and with a teary smile said, "I loved you from the moment I first laid my eyes on you, you changed my whole world Henry!" but Henry just stared back "So you are not my 'real mom', you just pretend to be one, and you lied to me my entire life!" Regina's entire face fell down at his words, he broke her heart with the 'real mom' comment, and then proceed to call her a lair, as if her love for him was a lie, "Honey, I AM your real mother, nothing will ever change that, I don't care whose blood is running through your veins, you are my son and I love you, and I always will!" she was desperate to make him see that her love was real, but everything was too much for him. Without another word, the little boy turn around, ran upstairs and locked himself in his room.

They both remember that day, both sadden and still grieving the relationship they had before, when everything was fine and they were happy. But even though they both remember it, Henry always puts it in the back of his head. He doesn't want to remember, he just wants to see her as the Evil Queen, just wants to hate her as much as he pretends to. But he can't shake the feeling of longing whenever he sees her, whenever Emma makes him breakfast and never gets it right. He keeps on comparing them, sees the different ways in which the act, compares the looks Emma sends his way, always friendly and kind but never really motherly. The fact that Emma loses every time when it comes to mothering makes him even more angry at Regina. Angrier because he wants the food the way she prepares them, he wants his clothes to smell the way they do when she does the laundry, he wants to come home to the smell of apple mixed with vanilla that is just so her, he wants to be cuddle the way only she can cuddle him. He is angry because he doesn't understand how the woman who raised him in such a loving home could have done all the thing she did, but most importantly he is angry because he loves her more than anyone, and he misses her and wants her to do all the things she did before he found out about the adoption. He is angry, and he wants his mom. But everything is just too complicated right now, and he is just a kid.

She is always there, even after all the time he has pushed her away. She always cheeks on him, making sure he is ok and happy. He knows this, because he notices her. She stays far away, but she looks. They go to the park, she is behind the tree; they go the beach, she is by the docks; they go to Granny's, she's at the bar. She is always there, and he has mixed feelings about it. On one hand, he is thrill that she hasn't given up on him yet, it makes him feel good, knowing she loved him enough to keep on trying. On the other hand, it upsets him because he can't be truly happy with his 'real family' if she keeps on showing up, reminding him of what the used to have, and reminding him that she has always given him everything that he could have ever asked for in a mother. So, he does the only thing he can do right now, and he ignores it, ignores her. He blocks the feeling away because they hurt too much, and he doesn't realize how much he is hurting her in the process. But she wasn't giving up, and he couldn't keep on ignoring her forever.

The morning of his eleventh birthday, he woke up with a big smile on his face. He thought it would be the best birthday ever, because now he had his 'real family', and his 'real mom' would make everything perfect. He got up, and went downstairs, hoping for a big surprise, and lots of hugs. But he was greeted by his grandparents preparing breakfast like any other day. Honestly, at the beginning he thought it was a joke, and try to play along "Hello Grandma, hello Grandpa! How are you today, anything special plans?" Snow looked up and said "Hi Henry, good morning. Not really, just going to work and maybe going out for dinner with David". But even then, he still thought that they would surprise him later, so he let it go. Later that day, Emma called him on the phone, to see how he was "Hey kid, sorry that I had to work this morning. But you know, somebody must be sheriff at all times" Henry was waiting for his 'Happy Birthday' sure she would remember, she gave birth to him for god's sake! But she never said anything about it. At the end of the day Henry was crushed, it had been the worst birthday nobody had even congratulated him. He guessed it was ok for his grandparents to forget, because they probably never even found out when it was. But Emma, Emma who he had thought would make this the best birthday ever, had totally forgotten about it. He had defended her as his real mother, had pushed Regina's love aside for her, and she couldn't even be bother to remember his birthday. As he walked up the stairs of the loft (he never could bring himself to call it home) he was thinking of all his birthdays before, and how happy he had been. He just wanted this day to be over, and forget about it. But as he made his way to the door, he saw two boxes on the floor. On was white and simple, the other one was wrapped with a colorful paper with a big ribbon on top. His eyes light up, they had remembered! The DID care about him and his birthday. He sat on the floor, and open the colorful box first. It was a new gaming console, with a bunch of games for it too! He was thrilled! It was just what he wanted. He couldn't help the huge smile that appeared on his face.

Then he opened the white box. In there they were 11 cupcakes, of different colors, with Hs on top of them. He instantly knew who this gift came from. His mom. It was a little tradition they had. One cupcake for each year of his life. She made them all, from scratch. They were his favorite pantries. He had always loved them. Then he found a little letter on top of the box: "My beautiful baby boy, you are the most wonderful little man in the world. I have no words to describe how proud I am of you, and how much I love you. No matter how old we get, and no matter what goes on between us, you will always be my little prince. Happy birthday Henry! I love you more every day, love mom ".

Of course she would remember, she always made sure his birthday was special. She was always there whenever he needed her, and today was no exception. He thought everybody had forgotten about his birthday, but she hadn't. And even after all the pain he caused her, even after pushing her away and treating her the way he treated her, she still made him feel loved and made sure he knew he was everything to her.

He sat there on the floor, crying. Crying because he couldn't remember why he was angry with her. He just knew how much he needed his mom, and wanted nothing more than for her to come and pick him up, cuddle him and take him back home. He sat there, because he was an 11-year-old kid who missed his mom, and didn't know what to do about it…


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's note: I know Henry has been mean here, but the relationship has to get worst in order to get better. Al least in my world lol. Still don't own anything._

Herny didn't know how long he sat sobbing by the door. But after a while he heard people entering the building so he stood up, cleaned his face and went inside. Once inside he went to the room he shared with Emma, and hid his birthday's presents. Once he finally made it downstairs, he was greeted by Snow, Charming and Emma. None of them remember the importance of the day, but still knowing that his mother had remembered was enough for him.

That night, when the usual text message came from Regina, it was not only the normal 'goodnight, love you' text, but yet another happy birthday wish: 'Sweet dreams my baby boy, I hope you liked your presents. Happy birthday little prince, remember that you are loved. Love you to the moon and back, Mom'. When he read the text, he couldn't help the smile that came across his face and this time he finally replied with a simple 'Thank you', not ready yet to let go of the rest of his anger, but it was a start.

The next day, Emma and Snow made their way into Granny's for breakfast. When the old wolf came close to them to take their orders, she casually asked about the day before. The mother-daughter duo didn't quite understand the question, so they just shrugged and answered politely. Granny noticed something was weird, but chose to drop the subject for the moment.

When Regina arrived at Granny's for her breakfast, she sat at her usual spot and was immediately approached by the older woman. "I take it by the hint of a smile on your face, that something happened with that boy of yours" Regina gave her a full smile while nodding and said "Indeed. He replied to my text last night!" the queen was a bit embarrassed with her excitement "He said thank you, I know it's not much, but that's a something, right?" Granny seeing the hope in the younger woman's eyes agreed "Yes child, it's a start. You should be proud of the progress, and celebrate it, in fact, breakfast is on me today". Regina smiled up at her, and started eating, and for the first time in a long time, Granny saw her doing it so with pleasure, so she walked away to attend to her other customers.

After a while of eavesdropping on the conversation between the princess and her daughter, Granny confirmed what she had suspected in their first conversation that morning. Those two had forgotten Henry's birthday! She was outraged with the news. Not only did they take the kid away from his mother, they couldn't be bothered to remember the one day a year he was supposed to be celebrated the most? She knew for a fact Regina had remember, she had seen her buying groceries two days before, getting everything she needed for his present. She understood where they were coming from, and that they were good people, even forgiving the queen's life had been a great gesture on their behalf. But it still bothered the old wolf to see the monarch hurt the way she did, that kid was her whole world, she lived and breathed for him. It was upsetting to see him pull away, but more so, to see him go willingly into the arms of a woman who had given him up and that, apparently, couldn't remember the day he was born.

As much as Granny would have liked to see Emma and Snow be scolded by Regina, she knew that she was too protective of Henry, and she was afraid it would backfire and cause more problems between the mayor and her son. That's why she spent the entire morning doing her best to prevent Regina from finding out about what had happened the day before. She was almost successful, but she never thought that she would need to stop the queen herself from approaching them.

Regina walked with confidence and with her head held high. It was enough that she was basically going to beg the savior and Snow freaking White to see her own son, she was not about to look defeated while doing it too. "Hello" she said with a calm voice, way to calm comparing it to the craziness inside her mind. "I was just wondering how everything went yesterday, and I wanted to see if it was ok for me to take Henry for a couple of hours this afternoon to celebrate with him too" the two women just stared at Regina, with a little apprehension in their eyes, but finally Emma was the one to speak "Hi, Regina… E-Everything was normal yesterday… I don't know why people keep asking that" the confusion mixed with amusement was clear in the blonde's tone. "I don't know if you taking Henry is a good idea… I mean, the kid is just starting to get used to his new normal…" Regina didn't even hear the last part, she was stuck on the whole, 'yesterday was normal' idea. "Normal? Excuse me? You are telling me that you didn't do anything special for Henrys birthday?" the queen was more than a little upset. Emma's eyes grew bigger that they had ever before. "It was his birthday?! I totally forgot about it" Snow was as surprised as her daughter and spoke for the first time "I can believe we forgot it, it's not every day a kid turns 10" Regina almost lost it "ELEVEN! He turned eleven! And you are the people that are taking care of my son? You took him away from me, just to keep on treating him like any other kid you know, like he is no more special to you than all your other students?!" at that point Granny grabbed the queen by the arm and pulled her away, not because of what she may do to them, but because she could see her tearing up and she knew she would hate to cry in front of them, to lead her to the office in the back.

When they were alone, Regina looked at Granny and with angry tears running down her face whispered "They didn't remember. He is everything to me, they took him, and it's like they don't care!" the older woman saw how much this was hurting the queen, so she just held her in her arms "I know child, I know… everything will work out in time, you just got to keep fighting the good fight"

Out in the restaurant, Emma was feeling like the worst mother in the world, and couldn't help the small voice in her mind telling her that she wasn't really a mother. How could she forget her son's birthday? It completely slipped her mind. The looked on her face showed her inner struggle, so much so that Snow grabbed her hand in a soothing manner. In that moment, Henry walked in. "Hi Emma!" came the happy voice of the little boy, but seeing the looks on their faces he immediately got worried "what happened?" Snow was at a loss for words, so Emma explained "Regina was just here, and we had a disagreement…" she was feeling particularly inadequate as a mother, and was more than angry at herself, but beacuse she couldn't take that Regina had proven herself worthier of Herny she said, "and she lost it, started yelling at me, honestly if Granny hadn't taken her out I don't know what would had happened" it wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't really a lie. Although she knew Regina was not going to hurt her physically and she knew what she was doing was wrong, but she couldn't help it. Henry's face fell, he was heartbroken, just yesterday he was planning on visiting his mother more, but now she went and did something like this. It never even crossed his mind that Emma could be lying.

At that exact moment, Regina and Granny walked out the back, and he couldn't stop the words that started to come out of his mouth, "LEAVE US ALONE! Can't you see that WE are a family and that you don't belong with anyone? Just because I texted you 2 little words, doesn't mean I forgive you. I can't believe you would treat my MOTHER that way. You are pathetic, following us like a lost puppy! Why don't you make us all a favor and lock yourself in that vault of yours? You are not wanted in this town, and it would make everyone's life here easier!" Regina had stopped in her tracks the moment he started to speak, and by the end of it she was sobbing uncontrollably . When he was done, Henry looked at Regina's eyes and saw the devastation in her face and felt incredibly guilty and at the same time was still angry with her. But before he could do something about it, before he could even think of what to do, she looked down and then disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

The entire restaurant was quiet, nobody could believe what had just happened. Granny was the first to speak "You ungrateful kid, you have no right to speak to your mother that way!" when she saw the protest in Emma's eyes she repeated herself while looking her in the eyes "Yes, your mother! She has done some terrible things but she never hurt you and, most importantly, she has been changing to be worthy of you. I don't know what brought this on, but whatever justifications are running through your head, you are wrong" Emma stood up and started to defend Henry, because as petty as it sounded, she was glad Henry had called her mother to Regina's face. "Hey! Don't talk to my son like that, you should know better than anyone how much of a monster Regina is!" Granny turned towards her and angrily said "I'm pretty sure you gave the right to call him 'your son' when you signed the adoption papers. You are literally the last person he has met in his life, how much of a mother can you be when you didn't even remember his birthday? " Snow noticing how angry the old wolf was, step in the middle to try to calm the situation "Everyone calm down, it was just a misunderstanding" and looking at Emma added "I mean, you could explain what happened a little bit better to Henry". Hearing that Henry was confused and said " I understand perfectly, Regina started to scream at Emma without reason and was about to hurt her!" Granny saw red "It's that what you told him? Seriously Emma, you are not only killing Regina but you are also messing with Henry's psychological health!" looking at the kid she continued "Your mother was yelling at Emma because she forgot about your birthday, she was defending you and was not about to hurt her at all… I pulled her away because she was about to cry, and I know how much the queen hates to be seen vulnerable…" Henry started to tear up, and then he let the tears fall down his face when he heard the old wolf's last words "you don't deserve to have her as a mother kid…" because he couldn't agree more.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note: I'm making up my own magical rules in this one… I hope you guys don't mind. Let me know what you think of this plot twist please!_

 _I don't own anything. If I did, Regina's and Henry's relationship would have been at the center of every episode lol._

More than a week passed, and nobody had seen the queen anywhere around town. Most people were fine with it, but there was a surprisingly big group that was worried. At the top of that list was Granny. She had been trying to reach the younger woman every day since the fight at the diner. She was not able to talk to her at all, she even went to the mansion to cheek on her but she was not there, in fact, it looked like nobody was living in that building at all.

Henry felt terrible the first few days. But somehow, thankfully (or so he thought) Emma was distracting him any time he started to think about Regina. He was not proud to admit that he had even had times where he forgot about the fact that she was missing. In some level, he thought that what had happened wasn't that terrible, and that Regina would get over it at some point. For Emma, the whole thing had turned out to be quite helpful in revealing a new side of herself. She was happy to be spending all this time with Henry, she was loving every second of it. But at the same time, she found it a little disconcerting how easy it was for her to take Henry's mind out of the problems with his (in her eyes) former mother, and what was even worst was that she was totally ok with reminding him of the times where the queen had hurt him in whatever way she knew. The truth of the matter was, that Emma had unconsciously made up a whole lot of terrible scenarios where Regina was the worst mother in the face of the Earth. She honestly believed that Henry's childhood had been horrible, and that Regina was incapable of loving anyone. But life was about to prove her wrong…

Once again, everyone was having breakfast at Granny's. It was the second week after the disappearance of the queen, and things where pretty much normal, which annoy the old wolf to no end. But suddenly, the floor started to shake, and a bright light appeared in the middle of the restaurant. Almost everyone recognized the portal that opened in front of their eyes, but nobody knew what it would bring. When the light finally started to die down a little boy appeared, no more than 3 years of age, he was a little disoriented so he looked up, searching for somebody. Obviously, he couldn't find the person that he was looking for, because he started to tear up immediately. Granny was the first one to react, because she saw who the little boy was, she ran towards him and picked him up trying to calm him. After Granny moved, Emma spoke "What the hell was that?" and she looked at Gold that was sitting in one of the tables near the door. "That, dearie, was a portal. I thought it was obvious" he answered sarcastically. "I know that, but who opened it? and why?". The man looked up at her like she was asking the most boring question "Contrary to what you believe, portals are almost like a magical creature, yes, it's true that one can open a portal, but you never create one, you just use one that already exist and you change its course. There are a lot of 'wild' portals, if you may" he used air quotes on that one "that just open and close as they please" Emma was still unsatisfied with the answer "So, what do we do with that boy? And how do we return him to where he belongs?" at that Golds chuckles "Another portal will open when the time is right to take him back… but I'm afraid the problem is not WHERE he belongs, but WHEN…" and with that he turned around, completely removing himself from the problem at hand, and left the diner.

After the door closed, Emma turned to look at Granny and the little boy in her arms. He had stopped crying and was just looking terribly sad in the older woman's arm. "Does anybody know what he meant by the 'when' thing?" Granny snorted "If you had seen that boy grew up, you wouldn't have a problem recognizing him now" she said while pointing with her head at Henry. At that moment Snow looked at the little boy closer and gasped "Of course! That's our Henry! Look at him, so little and cute" at the mention of his name, the little toddler hid his face even further in the wolf's neck. So, the princess tried again "hey sweetie, do you know who I am?" "Yes" came a little whisper, "Great! And can you tell me the last thing you remember?" the little boy was too uncomfortable, so instead of answering, he shook his head and refused to look up from his 'hiding place'. When she saw this reaction, Granny said "We need to call Regina, she is the only family he knows" Emma immediately refused "No way, how do we even know this isn't one of her plans?" Granny coldly looks her in the eyes "Do you really think she would want to be reminded this much of a time when she was happy with her son?" that comment ended that part of the discussion. But Emma wasn't going to give up that easily "We don't need her, he will be just fine with me. I will take care of him, and when the other portal opens he will go back" she then reached for toddler Henry but when she tried to take him away from Granny he started to scream and cry as loud as his little lungs would let him. Granny couldn't even hide her smirk when he also screamed "NO! I want my mommy! Where is my mommy?!" with that all fight left Emma's body, but she just had to say one last thing "Ok fine, it would be easier with her here, but nobody even knows where she is right now" The old wolf didn't answer, she just took her cellphone out and texted the queen: ' _Regina, I know you are in a bad place right now, but we really need you to come to the diner right now. Something happened, and it has to do with Henry'_ When Emma saw what she had done, she shrugged her shoulders "A simple text is not going to make her come out, she is too proud for that".

Less than 10 minutes after the text was sent, a breathless looking Regina opened the diner's door. "What happened? Is he ok? Where is he?" but Regina looked right at her son and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, in fact he wasn't even looking her in the eyes, as per usual. She then looked at Granny, a little hurt because she thought that she had been tricked by the older woman, but then she saw the little toddler in her arms. It had to be a joke, her mind must be playing with her, it was simply not possible for her son, her 3-years-old son, to be here. But as she came closer, he looked up at her and smiled the biggest and brightest smile "MOMMY YOU CAME!" he screamed as he hugged her. The entire diner was looking at the queen, with tears running down her face hugging the little toddler as if her life depended on it. After a while she pulled back a little to look him in the eyes "Of course I came honey" and looking at the people around her she got the answer to her unspoken question when Snow said, "A portal suddenly opened and he just appeared in here. We were trying to get him to tell as something about his surroundings at the time he fell through it but he wouldn't speak". Regina then saw how distressed her son looked, she immediately grabbed a cookie from the counter and sat in a chair with the toddler on her lap "Honey, do you mind telling mommy the last thing you remember?" Toddler Henry then started to whisper, still a little uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting "I was playing at the sand box at school, and then there was a bright light on the floor, and I fell! " Regina couldn't believe that even something as terrible as her son falling through a portal could be related to Snow White, for Christ's sake, the woman was supposed to look after the kids in kinder garden! She didn't get time to think much about it before Emma started to talk "I guess I will have a chance to take care of my son at a young age after all!" she was beyond happy "I know it will only be until the other portal opens but still is better than nothing, right?" she looked at the 11-year-old Henry and smiled, he then smiled back at her "Yes! I may even get some memories of you from early on! Awesome" Regina didn't know how much more heartbreak she could take, she was still felling worthless after the last time she had seen Henry, and now she sees that he was not only trying to replace her, but if it was up to him he wouldn't even have memories of her at all. She started to shake, if they kept talking there was no way she would have made it through without falling apart in front of everyone, but thankfully Granny noticed it and came to her rescue "Are you two forgetting this little's boy reaction to Emma?! He doesn't know you girl, he will not be ok with living with you!" feeling the tension in the air, little Henry just hid his face in his mother's neck, and she immediately reacted by rubbing his back and singing softly to him. It was her second nature, caring for him, making sure that, no matter what, he was comfortable. This did not go unnoticed by Grumpy, of all people, so he said to Emma, "Look sister, we know you are cool and everything, but the kid has no idea of what is going on right now, let him go with Regina otherwise he will be miserable and, honestly, so will you" Henry had refused to look at the queen since she entered the diner, but when he finally looked, he saw the tears that were still falling down her face, the protective way in which she was holding the toddler and could see her whispering, and, even if he couldn't hear her, he knew exactly witch song she was singing. The full force of the memories of those times with her hit him and he couldn't help the lump that formed in his throat, he then turned to Emma "Maybe he is right, let him go with my m… I mean, with Regina" Emma was not giving up on knowing little Henry, but guessed it was better to pick her fights "Ok, he can go with her tonight" she looked at the queen when she said this "but tomorrow we will figure out a better solution". She tried to intimidated the other woman with her words but the truth was that Regina wasn't paying attention to anyone but the little toddler, so much so, that Granny had to gently grab her by the arm, and soothingly say "Go home child, spend time with this little boy and we will see how tomorrow goes" Regina didn't need to be told twice, she got up and still in shock, left the restaurant.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's note: I know Henry is terrible here, but my idea is that he is really conflicted and at the end of the day, he is just a kid. Regina would never leave her child, no matter what, that is one of the reasons why I love her so much! But don't worry, their relationship will get better soon._

 _In this story Emma is OOC, I did it on purpose. I neither like nor dislike the Emma in the show, but I honestly never liked the fact that she came in to town 10 years later and took a child out of his home. I know Regina is not perfect, but the way I interpret the show, even in S6, is that Emma thinks of herself to be 'more' of a mother to Henry than Regina, and I hate it! Lol. So, in here Regina will be acknowledged as the real mother in Henry's life, and I apologize if someone doesn't like it._

 _I don't own anything._

Regina walks back home in a daze. She still can't believe this, her little boy is in her arms, her little 3-year-old boy, the one that loves her and thinks of her as a mother. She doesn't even notice that she is crying, until she reaches her house. She goes in, and the first thing she thinks, is that Henry's room is in no condition to accommodate a toddler. In fact, is in no condition to accommodate anybody.

The day Henry left her, she started to spend all her time in that room. She cried herself to sleep in that bed, ate a couple of crackers a day staring out the window there too. She was a mess, and she messed up the room as well. But after a few days, Granny found her there, and advised her to leave the room, said that it wasn't healthy for her to live trap in the memories. So, she took the advice, cleaned up everything, closed the door of the room and never opened it again.

She's sure the room is dusty and the air must be stuffy and uncomfortable. But she knows that even if the room had been in perfect conditions, and even if it had the right type of bed for a toddler, she wouldn't have gone in either. It's too much, she just can't do it. The evidence of her son's rejection was too strong in there. So, she decides to let little Henry stay with her in her bed, and tells so to the child in her arms "Sweetie, what do you say to nap time in mommy's bed?" the little one's eyes light up "Yes! I love your big bed momma! Will you nap with me?" she chuckles, because nothing sounds better right now, but she has too much on her mind, and she needs to come to term with everything, and maybe drink a glass of apple sider "No honey, I'm a grown up, we don't take naps remember?" she says bopping his little nose "but I will be here when you wake up, and we can spend the entire day together, doing whatever you want!". With an excited answer from him, she leads him to her room, and cuddles with him until he falls asleep. She stays a little while longer, just staring at him and reveling on his presence.

Regina goes to her home office and just sits there thinking of today's events. The little unexpected surprise that is currently sleeping in her bed is kind of bitter sweet. She loves him, and loves having him around. But the truth is that he reminds him of the happy times in her life, and it only makes the contrast with her current condition even more painful. That thought automatically leads her to think about what Henry said at the diner. How he had shown today that he doesn't even want to have memories of her, that he is not grateful or happy about the childhood that he had. That breaks her heart in a thousand little pieces. How could he say that? How is it possible that he hates her that much? Is almost as if he doesn't know her anymore. Like the loving moments between them where just a trick of her mind. She honestly considers that idea, maybe she IS crazy and Henry's childhood hasn't been a good one at all. Immediately, she goes to her library and pulls out one of the photo albums she has of Henry. She looks over it, and shakes her head while she cries. He WAS happy, is obvious in all his smiles. She sees him growing up, party after party, adventure after adventure (or operations as he likes to call them) she sees it with her own eyes. This brings her a little bit of peace, she knows she is a good mother, she is not perfect, and her decisions after he started to pull away from her weren't the best ones she had ever done. But she loves him more than anything, she has loved him his entire life! He is her everything, and it breaks her that he doesn't even care a little about her. She is willing to die for him, and he might as well be willing to kill her.

After Little Henry waked up from his nap, the day just went great. It was exactly like she remembers it. he laughed and laughed, delighted in her silly faces and playful mood. It was a perfect day, and it came with a perfect night as well. She cuddled her baby boy in her arms the entire night, and woke up to his beautiful chubby cheeks and light baby snores. But the happiness was short lived after waking up. She woke up to a text from Granny, warning her that Emma had gone into the diner expecting to find her there, and when she didn't, decided that she would invite herself over to her house. The warning also came with the offer to go over as well to help her with everything. She quickly replied that, yes indeed, she would love for her to come and help her, and also saying how grateful she was for everything the other woman was doing.

She got up and dressed as quietly as she could, and went downstairs to start breakfast and stop them from waking the still sleeping toddler. When she was about to start to drink her cup of coffee, she heard them outside. She could hear, Emma, Snow, David, Henry and Granny "I really don't know what you are doing here Granny, I think we are past Regina hurting us" said David while rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't know about the growing relationship between the two women, so he was surprised when he got his reply "I'm here for her, boy, don't be so blind as to think that she would be the one hurting someone today, it has been the other way around for a while now!" Regina hurried to the door, and opened it just in time, before Emma rang the bell. "Don't! He's still sleeping and gets cranky when a loud noise wakes him" Emma didn't know what to say to that, not only had she not thought about the possibility of the toddler being asleep, but she was also jealous of the fact that Regina knows her son so well. So instead of saying anything, she just walked in, and went straight to the kitchen. The queen was more than a little upset about the intrusion to her house "Excuse me? What do you think you are doing? I didn't say you could come in my house" Henry then said ignoring her protest "I'm hungry, we left home in a hurry and I didn't have any breakfast" Regina ignored the little pang of hurt when he said 'home' referring to the apartment, and just looked disapprovingly at Emma "You should never leave the house on an empty stomach Henry, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know that" the blonde didn't even turn around, but at least her parents had enough decency to look a little ashamed at the remark "We know, I'm sorry, it was a mistake on our part. We were just eager to see little Henry, that's all" Snow comment only made Regina more upset. "You know, there is this great thing call the telephone, you should had called and asked me to meet you somewhere instead of invading my home!" Henry then went into the kitchen to try to find something to eat, but to his surprise the cupboards where almost empty, and the fridge just had water, milk and a couple of vegetables in it. "where is all the food? What happened here?" He kept looking through all the places where Regina kept his favorite things but still came up empty handed "Where are my favorite cereals that you store here?". Regina looked to the floor almost ashamed and softly said "You don't live here anymore. I didn't have a reason to buy them anymore" Henry looked up in shock at the queen, and then looked away quickly "oh… right". But Granny was not happy about it "Maybe not his favorite cereals, but you have to eat something child! You can't keep this up for much longer, you have to start eating more than a couple of crackers a day Regina!" the older woman shut up fast when she saw the looks everyone was sending her, she forgot that no one had noticed the queen's weight loss. At those words both Snow and Henry looked at the queen more closely, and indeed could see the change. "Regina! You lost so much weight, that can't be healthy!" "Mind your own business princess, the last thing I need right now is your opinion in any aspect of my life" Henry was so shocked he couldn't even say anything, so he was grateful when David jumped in "So, Regina, when will little Henry wake up?" at the change of topic the queen relaxed "Probably in the next few minutes, it shouldn't be too long". After a little awkward silence, little Henry's voice could be heard from upstairs "Momma!" Regina moved quickly and went to picked him up. When she went back into the kitchen, she had him still wrapped in a little blanket, his face hidden in her neck and his little fist rubbing his eyes. When he noticed everyone he looked alarmed "Momma, why is everyone here? What are they doing in our home?" and then his eyes found Emma "That's the mean lady from yesterday! No momma, don't let her take me! She wants to take me away from you!" Little Henry desperately held onto his mother and started to cry "No honey, don't worry! They won't force you to do anything you don't want" she couldn't bring herself to say that they wouldn't take him away from her because they already did that, and that was going to happen in this Henry's future, so she settled for this truth, even if it hurt her. With that, Emma said "Don't worry about us Henry! We just want to get to know you, we would never hurt you!" the blonde didn't mention taking him away either because she wanted to do just that, grab him and taking him away from Regina forever. If it was up to her Henry would never see her again, neither little Henry nor the Henry she was living with. But at the same time she was picturing her life with Henry away from Regina, where she would be the only parent for him; Henry was watching closely how the queen was handling the toddler, how she whispered soothing words in his ear, how she rubbed his back, and how protective she was of him. It was like a light went on in his head, and he remember how great their relationship was, how she looked at him like he was perfect, how she made him feel so loved. He finally noticed that Emma didn't have that look in her eyes when she looked at him, she looked at him with love, but not the same kind of love he could see in Regina's eyes, the love from a mother. His mother. While this thoughts were running through his head, little Henry looked up at Regina, grabbed her cheeks and said "You are the bestest mommy in the whole world!" and he couldn't stop himself, we couldn't help but agree with this little version of himself. With tears in his eyes, he finally locked eyes with his mother and softly said "You really are".


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's note: I'm starting finals next week at the university, so probably won't be able to write until next weekend, hopefully. Thank you so much for the reviews! I honestly didn't think anyone would read this lol. I would like to especially thank the guest review that said that she/he was glad that this story focus on Regal Believer instead of a romantic ship. The idea crossed my mind of adding Robin here as well, but it still would take a second place to Regina and Henry. To me a mother/child relationship is more important than a romantic ship. Anyways, thank you all for your kind words, and I apologize for the mistakes, again English is not my first language and I don't have a beta lol._

 _I don't own anything._

Everything froze after that. The surprise was evident in everyone's faces but Granny's, she had a satisfied smirk on her face because she had been waiting for this to happen since the boy found out he was adopted. She knew all along that he felt that way and that he was just a bit too stubborn to admit it. Snow and David were surprise, so much so for David, that he didn't know what to think of it. Snow, on the other hand, finally realized the damage that they had cause taking Henry from Regina, and was finally able to admit the huge part that she plays in his life. Emma was angry, sad, disappointed, jealous and a thousand other things. She was first and foremost furious at Regina, how was it possible that the Evil Queen was a better mother than her? She was mad because she knew she wouldn't be in this position if she hadn't giving him up in the first place. It was her fault, she knew deep inside that she should be grateful that Regina took care of him when she wasn't able to, but still the jealousy was there.

Regina and Henry were in their own little world. They both had tears running down their faces, happy tears at last. She couldn't believe that he finally said something nice about her, that he finally remembered how much she loved him and that they had been happy together. Henry on the other hand was glad to have the weight of his shoulders, it was getting harder and harder to pretend that he didn't care about his mother and that he didn't love her. He felt terrible for everything he did. He was finally able to see pass the Evil Queen story and truly see his mommy, he had been too stubborn and had shut down all the warnings in his head telling him that he was wrong, and he kept suppressing every feeling of love towards her for far too long, he was sure he was going to regret this for a very long time. They both knew that they needed to have a long conversation about their relationship, but now it was clear that they were both willing to make things better between them and go back to the place they used to be. The silence was broken by little Henry, that didn't quite understand the situation "Why you crying momma? You look sad all the time now!" Regina softly smile at the toddler "It's ok honey, this are happy tears. I'm crying because I love you so much Henry" she looked from little Henry to the 11-year-old Henry. They both smiled at her and the little one nuzzled his face up to her collar.

After a little awkward pause, little Henry was starting to get bored, so he jumped off his mother's lap and went to find himself something to play with. Noticing the tense environment, David looked at Snow "Maybe we should check on little Henry while they talk, don't you think?" She shook her head "You go make sure he is alright, I will stay and help Emma here" and then almost whispered to him "I have a feeling this is not going to be a nice conversation for her". Nodding at her, David left the room in search of the toddler. Noting the worried look on the queen's face, Granny followed him to help him, and to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid in the queen's house. Regina was grateful that she didn't have to run after little Henry after Henry's words, she desperately wanted to hold him close and talk to him, but she was leaving everything up to him. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel pressured. Henry looked up at the prince and princess with a funny look on his face, and then he turned to Emma and found her looking back at him expectantly. Then he realized what was going on, Emma wanted to listen to his conversation with his mother, she probably thought that she had some sort of say in his life still. That made him angry, he knew he had given her that idea, he knew that if it weren't for him Emma wouldn't have overstep her place, but he still didn't like her complete disregard for his mother's role in his life. He decided that the conversation with his mother could wait, but the one he needed to have with Emma couldn't.

Emma was not going anywhere, Henry was her son, and she needed to know exactly what was going on with him, and she would have the last say on what was best for him. At least that is what she thought, even though deep inside she knew that everyone knew that things were not going to go her way at all. Henry started the conversation by addressing his mother first "I'm so sorry mom, I shouldn't have treated you like I did, please forgive me!" Regina seeing the tears in her son's eyes reacted immediately "Oh honey! You don't have to apologize to me at all! I did terrible things in my past, I am the one that need to apologize! There is nothing in this world that would make me happier than your forgiveness." Henry's answer was in the form of a hug, tighter and longer than the ones they've shared over the last year, and he softly said in her ear "I love you so much mommy" "I love you too my little prince". It wasn't the conversation he wanted to have with her, but it was enough to leave them both at peace for the time being.

Emma felt uncomfortable with the development of the morning, she had started the day thinking that she could have everything with Henry, and all her plans were falling apart in front of her eyes. "Why are you apologizing Henry? What is going on? What happen to 'living with her is a nightmare'? You brought me to this town to save everyone from her, remember? I'm your real mother! You said so yourself" Emma's tone showed how angry she was, and at her words the queen looked at her shoes waiting for the rejection that she knew was coming from Henry. But when he spoke she looked up in surprise and with hope shinning in her eyes, "I was wrong ok? I was confused and I forgot what she was like with me. You don't know what my life was before I found out I was adopted, she is the best mom in the world! She is amazing and loving and everything a kid could want in a mother. I apologized because I lost sight of it for a while, but I'm not going to make that mistake again. I love her, I share with her something I will never share with anyone else. She is my mother!"

Henry was very calm when he replied, something that surprised both Snow and Regina. He was acting very mature for his age and was handling the situation very well. He was telling Emma how he felt and at the same time was being careful of not hurting her feelings. He continued softly "I'm sorry I brought you into this mess, I know what I said and I know I led you to think that you were my real mother, but you are not. I love you, I really do, and I want you in my life but more like a crazy fun aunt, not like a mother." Snow was quiet, softly rubbing her daughters back while she cried. Emma understood where he was coming from, but still it broke her heart listening to him choosing his adoptive mother over her. "Fine kid, do whatever you want. But don't came back running to me when she screws up again" she was angry at everyone and didn't really know how to react, so she tried to storm of the house when Henry stopped her "SEE! Run away and prove my point. This is exactly why I don't think of you as my real mother, a mother doesn't give up on her child! She fights for him, and tries everything to make things better. You don't do that, it doesn't come naturally to you, because you are not a mother!" he stopped to calm himself down a little "you gave me up to give me my best chance, and I got it! Wasn't this what you wanted for me? To have a loving mother and a nice home, to be well taken care of and happy? She did that for me, she is the reason I am the person who I am. Please don't make any rush decision and leave town or something. I need you in my life, it may not be in the way you thought it would be, but it doesn't mean it can't be great, right?" His hopeful eyes calmed Emma down a bit, and she gave him a little smile "You are right, I'm sorry. I'm not going to leave don't worry." She didn't know what else to say, "I'm going to find David and little you, to see if I can help in any way." And with that she went to the living room where Granny was softly singing to the toddler while David just stood there not really paying them any attention, his mind wandering towards the rest of his family. Snow went with her, and when Granny saw all the Charmings there, she knew it was her chance to let the queen have some alone time with her son "Why don't we take this little one to the park for a little while? It's a beautiful day, it would be such a waste for him to spend it inside!" she looked over to Regina who was just entering the room, and gave her a soft reassuring smile. "You guys go, I will stay with my mom to help her clean things up" Henry's tone left no room for argument, only Regina spoke up after "Granny, please don't forget the sunblock, his skin is very sensitive" Granny nodded and with that everyone but Henry and Regina left the house.

The moment the door closed behind everyone, Henry jumped and attacked him mother with a giant bear hug, Regina chuckled softly and rubber his back and ran her fingers through his hair. They just held each other tight for a while, not caring about anything else but each other. She was the one to pull away first, just so she could look him in the eyes and she noticed that she was not the only one crying "Henry, I missed you so much! Do you have any idea how loved you are? You are the perfect son, I'm sorry for everything baby". At her words, he replied "I'm sorry too mom, and I missed you a lot too! But maybe we should stop apologizing because we both messed up, and I think it would be better to just move on and try to make things right from now on" She thought her heart was going to explode with love for her precious little prince "you are so smart honey! You are right, we will stop apologizing for this but I will never stop saying how much I love you and how much you mean to me. I don't want you to ever doubt my love, ever again" She gently rubbed their noses together and smiled softly at him. "I love you too mom, and I can't wait to eat your lasagna again!" he said trying to light up the mood a little bit. Their conversation was nowhere near over, and they had a long road ahead of them. But they couldn't be happier with the start of this new page in their relationship. Both knew that they loved each other, and nothing could tear them apart ever again. They were mother and son, and they had a unique and unbreakable bond.


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's note: Sorry this took so long! I've had a lot in my plate lately. Sorry for all the mistakes in here!_

 _Don't own anything…_

Regina felt like she was in heaven. She couldn't believe that her son was acting the way he was acting right now. Not only had he defended her place in his life in front of Emma, he had done it in a caring way. He really was the perfect son, a loving and kind person at heart. Henry was also as happy as someone could be. He had really missed his mom, everything about her now made him happy.

They were both in the kitchen, making lasagna as per Henry's request. It was a tradition that they had had that they both missed greatly in the last year. Henry was his momma's little helper once again, now helping her more than he used to because he could actually handle a knife! They were listening to silly songs very loudly and dancing around without a care in the world. Once the dish was done, they sat down together to eat it, and Henry looked his mother in the eyes as he was chewing his first bite "This is awesome mom! The best one you've ever made!" She smiled and gently replied "Thank you sweetheart, but please don't speak with your mouth fool" He smiled a little and wishfully said "Believe it or not, I missed that kind of things the most" when she looked at him strangely he continued "Those little remarks, they show you care. It's automatic for you to correct me and help me out whenever you can. Not everyone is like that, you know?" at that Regina sat up a little and looked at him "What do you mean honey? Are you talking about Emma?" He looked at his plate and didn't really answer, scared that he would hurt her feelings again. But Regina knew him better than anyone else in the world "You shouldn't be so hard on Emma sweetie, she is handling things as best as she can. You have to understand that you had very high standards for her, and she has always been aware of them. It must be a lot to take to have someone have that much faith in you." Henry nodded and thought about what his mother was saying "I'm not mad at Emma, I honestly don't really know how I feel about her right now. I know I want her in my life, but I guess we have to find a balance so that we are all comfortable. I haven't been completely honest with her either…" the queen was sad for him, she could see the confusion all over his face "Ok, let's break this down a little bit" She send him a playful smile that he mirrored "From what you just said, you are disappointed in Emma because she is not the mother that you expected her to be, right? "at his nod, she continued "Well baby, I'm sorry but things don't work that way. I know you wanted her to be this perfect mother that was going to make everything better, but she is just a human being that was thrown into this situation suddenly and has a lot on her plate to figure out." As much as Regina hated the way Emma acted with her, and as much pain as it caused her calling another woman her son's mother, she had to put him first. So that meant talking to him about this woman, and helping him figure out in witch way he wanted Emma in his life. But as much as Regina new his son, Henry also knew his mother, and saw right through her pain "Mom, you are right, I did want her to be the perfect mother" at that Regina couldn't stop her eyes from watering "But the thing is, I started to measure her by the standards that I already had of the 'perfect mother' and she failed. Mom, YOU are my standards for the perfect mom! " at that, the queen smiled softly and rubbed his cheek lovingly "at first I didn't understand why I was so mad at her, you know? I just didn't get it. then I finally realize that I was constantly comparing her to you, and she doesn't do ANYTHING like you mom, for real! She almost burned the kitchen down trying to make breakfast once!" they both laughed at that " but after some time, I began to notice that my anger wasn't with her, it was with me. Because I already had the perfect mom, and I had lost her because of my own stubbornness and stupidity." Regina jumped alarmed "Henry! You will never lose me, there is literally nothing that you could do that could make me go away! You are stuck with my boy" she winked at him but Henry looked down and whispered "Do you mean that?". He sounded so little and afraid at the time that she dropped everything she had in her hands and picked him up as if he was 3 years old again "Oh baby, of course! I'm your mother, I will never leave you! Know that as long as I breathe, you can count on me for anything!" she held him against her chest and rubbed his head softly. "My little prince, you don't understand how deep the love I have for you really runs. You mean everything to me Henry, everything!" he had tears running down his face, so she tried to make him feel better by reminding him of their conversation. "So, if you aren't really mad at Emma, what is wrong?" He rubbed his nose and answered "I'm not mad at her for not being the perfect mother, but I AM mad at her because she believes she is my mother. I know I gave her that idea, but surely, she must have notice that things between us are not how things go between mothers and sons, right? I mean, we just met!" when he said that she felt a little bit of sympathy for Emma "Henry, you have to understand that Emma loves you a lot, and she must have hoped that you two would start a life together, and that she could make up for the time that she has lost with you in the future. In a way, she feels like she is your mother, and it's really painful when someone you love a lot rejects you" she rubbed his back softly while she said this, because she knew he didn't like the idea of hurting Emma, but he surprised her once again "I get that mom, that's why I was trying to be careful with her. But I also know that as much as she is hurting right now for this, you must have felt a million times worst. Why can't she see that? Why can't she notice that if she feels protective and possessive over me after a few months, you must feel way more possessive and protective, and with a way better reason to do so!" Regina gave her a tearful smile at that "I know that I am hurting her a little right now, but at the end of the day not only do I know I hurt you worst, and I want to make up for that, but ultimately, even if she still is part of my family, you are my mother and my loyalty is with you. " the queen nodded slowly, taking into account what he was saying "As much as I appreciate what you are saying, honey, 'making it up to me' should not cost you your relationship with Emma, but again you don't have to make it up to me at all! Stop worrying about me, and do what you feel is right for you. I know you love her too, and I want you to be happy. Make the call thinking about you, I will be fine with whatever you want to do" Henry smiled at her "I don't want her out of my life, but I don't want her to think that she can make decisions for me or anything like that. I want to call her and be able to hang out together, having fun. That's what I want." "So, tell her honey, explain to her that you love her, and calm her down a little bit, she will understand. I promise that everything will work out eventually Henry" at that he looked her in the eyes and with a serious look in his eyes he replied, "I know everything will be alright, because I know you will always have my back".

In the park, Granny, Emma and the Charmings were all chasing around after little Henry. He really was a handful and they were four against one! Granny chuckled when David fell down after ducking while chasing the toddler "You can fight dragons but a kid gets to you prince?" Snow laughed softly and went to help him up "To be fair, he is way smaller than a dragon so it's easy for him to get away" he replied laughing along with the two women. Emma on the other hand, was completely focused on Henry. She had pushed the conversations with the eleven-year-old to the back of her mind, and was trying to have fun with this version of him that was finally worming up to her. Being able to play with little Henry was something she had never thought possible, and she was going to enjoy it as much as she could. She was so immersed in her little fantasy world that she didn't see Regina and Henry approaching them, but her happy bubble was suddenly popped, when she picked the toddler up over her head and she saw his whole face light up in happiness but he wasn't looking at her, he was looking behind her and he let out a squeal "MOMMA! You here!" and with that Emma was brought down to reality as fast as the little boy tried to squirm his way down so he could run to his mother. When she turned around, she saw Regina kneeled in front of little Henry, giving him a big hug with one arm, while she was also holding hands with the other Henry. It was a weird sight to say the least, but to Emma it was a painful reminder that Henry would never love her as much as he loved Regina. She knew she shouldn't feel the way she was feeling, but she couldn't help the anger boiling up inside of her. She knew the anger came from hurt, but she had never felt this way before. She didn't blame anyone but Regina for the hurt she was felling, and she was going to make her pay for this, she just didn't know how yet.

When the Charmings saw little Henry ran to Regina, they had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, they now knew that keeping those two apart was wrong, and that they shouldn't had hurt Regina the way they had had in the first place. On the other hand, they felt bad for their daughter, this couldn't be easy for her, and they knew that she was going to need their help even if she didn't know it herself. Granny was looking at everyone from the corner, like the old wolf she actually was. She saw the happiness in Regina and both Henrys, and saw the Charmings reaction to it all. But what really peeked her interest was Emma's reaction, she knew that look. That woman was letting her feelings take her places she shouldn't go right now, and the old woman knew Emma was going to try to do something to take away Regina's happiness, and in the process Henry's too (even if that wasn't her intension). Granny saw it all, and made a silence promise to not let Emma do anything stupid and that she would regret, and most importantly, to protect Regina the way she should had protected her before.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's note: I didn't have this idea in my head when I started to write this, but it just kind of happened lol. Sorry if someone dislikes this, but, like I said before I'm not particularly fond of Emma. I apologize for the mistakes in here…_

 _Don't own anything_

It was pretty obvious for everyone in the park that little Henry only had eyes for his mom. After the hug, he refused to let go of her to the point that Regina had to carry him around on her hip. He only let her put him down so that he could play in the swings, and she was pushing him. Regina didn't care at all, she didn't even look surprised by this behavior. David and Emma on the other hand, where quite shocked with it. They had seen little Henry cling to his mother a lot lately, but they thought that it was because of all the chaos around the toddler that scared him and made him look for comfort in the only person he knew. Snow and Granny where just looking at them with soft smiles on their faces, because both of them had witnessed this sort of moments before, when Henry was little Henry's age. When Snow finally looked up at her husband, and saw the confusion in his eyes, she remembered that he had been in a coma for several years, and had never seen this side of the queen before. "They were always like this, they didn't spend more than a couple of hours apart at any moment. Regina made sure of it". Emma couldn't get pass her anger, she felt like she was being rob "I find that hard to believe! He literally ran away to find me because he hated her so much. Why is it that all of the sudden she is this great mother that can do no wrong? This is insane, are we even talking about the same Regina? God!". Snow opened her mouth to replied to her daughter but was cut off by Granny "Don't get sassy child! You have no idea who that woman is, and you are just looking for trouble right now. Thank God that neither of the Henrys heard you. Do you even think of him when you insult his mother in that way? He is clearly hurting and confused about this whole thing, and you are just making things worst. That, in itself, shows you who the real mother is here!" and with that the cook left the three adults and went to find Henry, not only to get away from Emma, but also to make sure that the kid hadn't in fact heard her.

After the old wolf stormed off Emma, David and Snow looked at each other for a second, each taking into account what Granny had just said. The princess was the first to break the silence, "Emma, honey, I know this whole situation is really messed up. But she is kind of right in some levels" She said softly, knowing that her words were hurting Emma "Regina raised Henry, and in his eyes, she is the only constant that he's had, she is his rock, his mother." Emma's eyes started watering after hearing her mother's words, "Don't you see how all of this is her fault? How, if she hadn't cast the curse, we would have been a family? She is the root of all evil in all our lives, and you are letting her take away with my son? If you are my so call parents, you would stand by me and help me bring her down!" She was furious, she was so mad she didn't even raise her voice, which made her speech so much more powerful. David shook his head a little "We know exactly who cast the curse, and we fought her for a long time. But that woman that you see playing with those kids? That isn't the Evil Queen, she is just Regina. If we are able to see it, after everything she putted us through, you should at least try to see it too." When he saw that Emma wasn't buying it at all, he continued "Look, I hear what you are saying, but you have to think of Henry first. If he loves her, is because she earned his love, we shouldn't take that away from him. And if she tries to keep Henry away from us, we will do everything we can to get him back, don't worry about that. But right now, it doesn't look like she wants to fight at all, let's not jump to conclusions without all the evidence, ok?" Looking into her parent's hopeful eyes, Emma knew she wouldn't win this argument, so she just nodded. She realized that they were too weak to help her, they just wouldn't do what was necessary to protect the town from the Evil Queen, she chose to shup up for time being, until she found an ally that wouldn't be intimidated by the task at hand. She saw the monster behind the woman, and she would do anything in her power to bring her down and save Henry, she was the savior after all, and if saving the town meant killing Regina, then nobody was going to stop her.

Henry was looking from afar as her mother played with his younger version. It was a weird felling, to be honest. On one hand, he remembered how much he loved those moments when he was little, but on the other hand he couldn't help but feel a little jealous of himself, as bizarre as that was. He wanted that kind of bond with his mother again, he knew they loved each other and that they were starting to mend their relationship, but he couldn't wait any longer. He wanted his mom back! Just when he was about to approached Regina, Granny came close to him.

"Hey kid, what are you doing?" Henry just shrugged his shoulders "Just here, thinking about how bad I messed up with my mom" at that, the woman nodded her head "Ah, not feeling so great about the whole 'You are not my mother' thing right now? I'm not going to lie Henry, that was a horrible thing to say"

"I know, I feel terrible. But we made a deal before we came here, we are not supposed to apologize anymore about the last few years. But that doesn't make the guilt go away, it's not like a magic way to fix it, you know?" Granny couldn't help but think that he was taking thins way better than a regular 11-year-old kid, and that was all thanks to his mother "I know, it's going to be a long journey for you two, but you are already on track, and things with your mom will only get better from now on, don't worry about it." she softly ran her fingers through his hair. "Yeah, I'm not worry about that" he smiled a little "But I am worried about something else getting our way…I have this weird feeling all the sudden, I don't know how to explain it" Granny looked to the horizon trying to stop him from noticing that she knew exactly what he was talking about "That mother of yours, is a fine strong woman. She is not going to let anything happen to you, and she sure as hell has the power to protect all of us" Henry's eyes lighted up at that comment "It would be so cool to see her kicking some bad guy's butt!" he giggled at the thought, and after that he ran off to meet his mother and his younger version.

Granny stayed behind a little bit, thinking about what the kid had just said. She confirmed one of her theories about magic and family bonds, she had suspected that something like this could happen. The old wolf in her could still tell the different smells in magical users, and the members of the same family always had a similar sent. The kid had magic, still a little weak (understandable with his age), but that magic hadn't come from blood, it was the same kind of magic Regina had, he was a real Mills no doubt about it.

The other part of the conversation wasn't as joyful as the first little realization. She knew what he was talking about, the weird feeling was his magic sensing Emma's magic. He probably didn't know what he was feeling, so he wasn't thinking about Emma as a threat. But she knew better, she could feel the darkness starting to take control of Emma's mind. She had to stop her from doing anything stupid. But she had to wait until she had some sort of proof about it all. What was puzzling to her, is how the queen hadn't felt it. Maybe the emotional ordeal had taking its toll on the monarch.

Regina was overcome with happiness, she had both versions of her son with her, and the three of them were playing happily in the park. The toddler was giggling nonstop since she arrived, and the eleven-year-old was playing along with them, even though she could tell it was a little weird for him to be playing with the toddler. After a little while, little Henry started to get fussy and asked to be picked up. The moment Regina had him in her arms, he snuggled close to her "Momma, home. Me sleepy" The brunette smiled softly at that, and rubbed his back in a soothing pattern "Guess that's our cue to go" she wrapped her free arm over Henry's shoulders "You want to come home, or would you like to spend more time with the Charmings and Emma?" it still hurt to have to give him up from time to time, but she understood that he had a bigger family now. Snow and Granny overheard that part of the conversation. The princess smiled, glad to see that Regina was actually trying to make things work with all of them, and also sending an encouraging smile to Henry, in the hopes that he would stay with them. She desperately wanted him to say yes, just to make Emma feel better. But Henry was still a little apprehensive of Emma "Nah, I'll see them later this week, I really missed you mom" he said as he returned her half hug. Both Regina and Granny smiled at the sweet gesture "Ok sweetie, go say goodbye then" Regina then turned to little Henry, only to find him already asleep on her shoulder, so, she looked up at the Charmings "Sorry, he's already out. Come see him later if you want to" the Charmings nodded their heads and Emma just looked away annoyed. The blonde only turned her head to give a small wave goodbye to Henry. Before Regina started to head home, Granny spoke up "Wait, I'm going with you. I'll make you all some dinner, how about that?" Henry laughed "We made lasagna before coming here, and there's a lot of it still in the fridge!" Granny really needed to talk to Regina about the whole Emma thing so she played along with the kid "Ok then, this is the best opportunity to finally settle down our long-time fight kid! Let's see how good your mom's lasagna really is, because I still don't buy it that it's better than mine!" Regina smiled, while Henry replied with a twinkle in his eyes "You are so going to lose Granny! And I will get a chocolate milkshake for that!". The old wolf just gently bumped Henrys shoulder, and with that the four of them started going back to the mansion, leaving the Charmings and a very angry Emma behind.

After dinner, where Granny had to admit that Regina's lasagna was in fact better than hers, and after both Henrys had gone to bed, the two women sat down on the couch to talk. "If you are going to ask for my recipe, don't even waste your time wolf. I'm not giving it up!" Regina said smiling while she poured them both a glass of wine. Granny smiled at that but then turned to the queen with a serious look in her face "Do I really need to tell you what this is about? I'm pretty sure anyone remotely magical would have felt the problem from a mile away" the brunette nodded "I know, I felt it too. I just can't believe that kind of dark magic was coming off Emma, I mean she is the savior, her magic is supposed to be as light as it gets." The older woman putted her glass down and replied "Yes, I thought so too, but life just takes you to unexpected places. She was born with light magic, that doesn't mean she can't turn dark later in life." She then looked Regina in the eyes and said softly "You should know that better than anyone, that happened to you" the younger woman looked up surprised "How do you know that? I was trained by Gold, so mine turned dark really fast, not a lot of people know that it used to be light" "The fairies talk a lot, specially that mother superior. I overheard one of them once, when they were in the diner, talking about how you always called for help when you were little but that no fairy came close to you because Blue had prohibited, saying that she knew with your family that there was no way you could keep your magic light for long" Regina shook her head, not surprised at all "I used to think something was wrong with me when I was a kid, no matter how hard I cried and asked for help, they would always ignore me, figures it would be that moths fault." With that she downed the rest of her wine "We will have to be extra careful with Emma now, if you see anything weird, please let me know" "Of course child! I have your back on this one. I just hope that she realizes that she is wrong, before she does anything that puts anyone in danger"

The next day, Emma was running in the forest. She was going as fast as she could, trying to figure out a plan to take Regina down. She needed an ally and quick, the problem was that nobody had the power or the courage to fight the queen. She could go to Gold, but he was Regina's mentor, and he could not be trusted. The blonde just kept on running, until all of the sudden a light appear and Blue showed up in front of her "I hear that you are looking for someone to help you get rid of the Evil Queen once and for all? I hope you have the courage to go as far as you need to go. Your mother never could go through with it completely." A very creepy and scary smiled appear on Emma's face "Oh I can assure you, I will not rest until queenie is dead and I have my son back"


	9. Chapter 9

_So, Happy New Year everyone! I apologize for not updating, but my life has been chaotic through all 2017. I hope I will be able to update more often. Does anybody still read this, or should I just drop this all together? Anyways, let me know what you guys think, and as always, I apologize for all the mistakes in here._

 _I don't own anything (shocking right?)_

Henry had been happy to be back in his room, he had really missed how comfortable he felt in there. At first, he didn't know how they would work things out with the little version of himself, but his mother had given him a little apologetic smile, and silently guided the toddler to her own room, before turning to him again. She had been a little awkward, he could sense that she was testing the waters with him, trying to figure out how much he was willing to let her do of their old routine. On his part, Henry was looking forward to the entire routine, even things they hadn't done since he was a little boy. He wanted her to read him a story, tucked him in, snuggled a little bit and even asked her to sing to him a little lullaby. Regina was happy to oblige to his every wish. When he finally let her go back downstairs, he was calm, happy and ready to sleep for hours.

It turned out to be an awful night for Henry. He kept tossing and turning, having nightmare after nightmare. He didn't know what was going on, they felt different to any other bad dream he'd ever had. When he woke up from a particular bad one, he decided that he'd had enough, and finally ran to his mother's room. He looked first through the little gap she always left open in case he needed her, and saw her snuggling with Little Henry, with both her arms wrapped around him. He hesitated there for a few seconds, until a flash of his latest dream appeared in his mind. He walked to her side of the bed, and tried to get in without waking her up. Of course, she was already awake, and she let him know with her eyes still shut, but with a soft smile on her lips "Took you long enough honey, I've been waiting for hours"; he chuckled at that, of course she already knew, what was he thinking trying to sneak around her? "Sorry mom, I thought that I could soldier through" he said shrugging his shoulders a little. At that she opened her eyes and slowly let go of Little Henry, so that she could turn completely on her side to face Henry and give him her full attention. "Why did you do that? You know you can come to me with anything" when he didn't respond she pushed a little more "Do you want to talk about your dreams?". Henry looked down, unsure if he wanted to relive everything so soon; but she misunderstood his expression "Are they about me? About things you picture me doing?" she said with a little tremble in her voice, trying her hardest not to let him notice she was close to tears. The boy looked at her surprise "No, no, no, nothing like that. I mean… they are about you, but not bad… like you are not the one being bad… it's weird… I don't feel like talking about it right now. Can we do this tomorrow, please?". After hearing him, she felt relieved that it wasn't what she assumed, but she still felt uneasy about what was actually bothering him "Ok baby, whatever you want. Tomorrow, or when you are up for it, just let me know" with that she wrapped one arm around each Henry, and pressed a little kiss to both their foreheads "I love you, my little prince, always", "Love you too mom, more than anything".

The following day, Little Henry woke up first, as usual. He was beyond happy that he had spend another night with his momma, so the first thing he did was let her know that. "Momma, Momma!" he said while poking her face with his little fingers "Momma wake up!" she smiled softly at him and finally opened her eyes when he started to pry her eyes open himself "Hello baby, how did you sleep?" "Great momma, I love sleeping in big bed with you!" he laughed and got up intending to star jumping around on the bed; Regina, knowing her son, and mindful of the older version of Henry, got up catching the toddler midair "No, no, no, Henry. You know better than to jump on the bed" she said softly while running her fingers trough his hair "And besides, we have to be careful, because we are not alone here, see?" she pointed to Henry while picking up the toddler and setting him on her hips. When they were outside of the bedroom, heading to the kitchen, the little boy finally asked the question Regina was dreading "Who is he mommy? And why is he here?" the brunette didn't know how to answer her son, she had been trying not to lie to him anymore, but she felt that in this case the truth could actually do more damage than good. So, she said the part of the truth that she felt was safe, hoping that it would settle him, "He is someone I love very much, honey. His name is Henry" they reached the kitchen and she sat him on a chair "That's my name momma! I never met someone with my same name before" he said with a smile, and when the queen settled a glass of milk in front of him, he completely forgot about their conversation. Regina was thankful for the 3-years-old's short attention span, she chuckled softly, and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek "Eat up baby boy".

Almost an hour later, Henry made his way downstairs to the kitchen "Good morning mom" he said, "Good morning sweetie, how did you sleep?" she said while giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Henry sat on a chair and waited till his mother passed him a plate with his breakfast "After I went into your room, I slept great" at that, Regina gave him a concerned glance and when she saw that he was going to keep on talking, sat next to him with her own breakfast "I had really weird dreams mom, they didn't feel right" the brunette stop eating and replied, "What do you mean by weird?" Henry took a few more bites before speaking again "I couldn't control things, like in every other dream, and thing felt too real, like, not only I felt everything physically but emotionally as well, I don't really know how to explain it". His mother had a little idea of what he was talking about, actually, she knew exactly what he meant, but she didn't think it was possible. "Honey, have you been having this sort of weird things happen to you lately, or is this an isolated occurrence?" the boy looked her in the eyes "No, not really. I guess, now that I think about it, that some pretty weird things have been happening to me, like I get a funny feeling sometimes, like al of the sudden I am supper aware of my surroundings, or I know that something is wrong with the people I care about, stuffs like that… but isn't that kind of normal?". The queen thought a little bit about how to answer her son, "Well, it's not unheard of, but I don't think you are going to like what I'm guessing it is" at that he perked up a bit "Please tell me, I promise not to freak out or anything" Regina took a hold of his hand and softly said "Henry, that is magic" Henry looked at her with a funny expression on his face "Like, because now there is magic in town?" "No honey, as in YOU have magic. This are the first sings of your magic, I had the same ones! Although, mine came a little latter on" Henry was confused "But how do I have magic? How is that possible?" Regina took a deep breath "Well, you could have it because Emma has it, but I honestly don't understand how that'd be, because her magic was created by her parents love, so in theory it shouldn't be passed on" Henry nodded his head at that "I though magic ran only in some families in the Enchanted Forest, and that neither Snow nor Charming had it" "They don't, that's why I don't think that that is where you got your magic from, but the other possibility is even more remote, so I would have to look into it" noting his mother's hesitation Henry question her a little "What is it mom? Tell me, maybe I can help" with a little sigh the queen continued "There are some books that explain of special bonds between people, that lead them to became members of the same magical families. You see, magic that is passed on from generation to generation, like mine, has a certain mark or print, is very small but it shows a connection between the magical users. I believe, that we could have a bond strong enough that you inherited my magic" Henry's curiosity spiked "Why do you thinks that is a far fetch possibility? Of course that is what happened! You are my mom!" she smiled at him "We could figure out right now if I'm wrong, but I would have to use a little bit of magic, and I know you don't want me to" the boy looked at her "You really haven't been using your magic at all since I asked you not to, you are amazing mom! But please use it now, I want to know! Besides, I don't think it would be bad for you to use magic, as long as it's for the right reasons." She chuckled softly "Ok, I will only use it when I have to, I promise. But come here, let me take a look at your magic". When Henry stood right next to her, she raised her hand and placed it on top of his head. Something went through him, similar to sparkles, they didn't hurt him at all, in fact they felt comforting somehow as if his body recognize her magic. When she was done, she lifted her hand from his head, kissed his cheek and with a wide smile on her face said "Yep, that is my kind of magic young man" and then, as an after thought she added "But magic can be very dangerous, I know that more than anyone, you have to be responsible sweetheart. If you want me to teach you how to use it, you will have to remember the consequences of its power" "I know mom, I promise to use it as little as possible, but what would happen if I didn't learn to use it at all? And how does the whole dark and light magic thing work? Because right now, your magic didn't feel dark at all to me" She ran her hand softly trough his hair, "I'm afraid that if it already started to show, it will get more difficult for you to handle it, and it would be more difficult to do everyday stuffs if you don't learn how to control it… and 'the whole dark and light magic thing' as you say" she rolled her eyes at him and he gave her a little chuckle "it's really complicated, but the truth is that even though magical users are born with either dark or light magic, it's not something that can't be changed. I was born with light magic, but it turned dark once I started training with Gold, but as you just pointed out, it tends to go light when I use it for the right reason, for love. Your magic, right now, is light, and you are supposed to keep it that way, you hear me?" with that she pointed a stern finger at him, being very serious with her warning "I already promised you mom, I will do everything I can to use it for good reasons only".

At lunch time, Emma walked into the dinner, looking for Snow. Her little chat with Blue had been interesting, she had finally found someone who saw the queen as the monster that she was, and was going help her bring the brunette down. But unfortunately, the fairy's magic couldn't really harm Regina, so Blue had told her that she had to learn how to control her own magic to do the job. It wouldn't be easy, and it would take some time, but she was a woman on a mission and she was not giving up anytime soon. After finally spotting her mother, she made her way to the booth, and order lunch like any other day. She had agreed with the fairy that it was better to keep things between the two of them for the time being. Not only because Regina could attack before she was in control of her powers, but because they were waiting for the inevitable, for the queen to finally show her true colors to the rest of the people in town. If they waited a little bit, they would sure gain the approval of the entire town without barely moving a finger. She was going to get ready, and she was going to defeat that witch and get her son back.

The moment that the blond walked into the diner, she could smell the darkness coming out of her. She knew something new happened, and that it made the 'savior' happy, she could just feel it. She may be an old wolf, but she wasn't stupid, she had to figure out what the young woman was planning, and she had to find out who was going to help her. Before she could dwell on it a little longer, Regina and the two Henrys waked in as well. The three of them were smiling and they seem to be in their own little bubble. But she had come to know the queen well, and she saw the exact moment she felt the difference in the blond savior, she saw the brunette's shoulder tense up a bit, and noticed her hold on both kids got a little firmer. When Granny looked down at Henry, she saw him notice it too, but she could see, by the way he kept on looking around the restaurant, that he hadn't been able to place exactly what was causing the strange feeling.

When Granny walked up to them, to take their orders, she could hear Henry talking "Maybe we should leave mom, I have the weird feeling again", the boy was whispering, but that didn't fool her wolf ears. "You three should stay child, you are safe right now, don't worry too much about it." Regina grabbed Henry's hand "she is right baby, we are safe. But is this related to your dreams? Is this the same feeling?" the boy looked from his mother to the cook "Yes, it's exactly the same, do you guys feel it?" "We do child, that's why we are telling you not to worry. Tell you what, I'll bring you a cheese burger with a milkshake, just the way you like it. Let's see if that makes you feel better." When Henry smiled at her, and nodded his head she laughed and turned to the queen "Seeing as now things are going better with you" she gave the younger woman a pointed look "I will also bring you a cheese burger, and with fries for the table. I expect clean plates, you hear?" and with that she left.

After the older woman had gone back to the kitchen, Regina focused on her son "Do you want to talk about your dreams sweetie?" he looked around "I guess, but I don't want anyone to eavesdrop on us" "Don't worry about it, I can put a sound proof spell on the table, if you'd like" at his nod, she discreetly waved her hand across the table, and it felt like all the noise from the diner was muffled, like they were under water. "Ok… in my dreams, it feels like I'm trying to find you, I look everywhere but is like you are gone, like someone took you. Eventually, I do find you, but I don't know how I do it, or where it is they kept you. I try to save you, but I don't know who I'm supposed to fight, like during the dream I need to protect you, but I can't say from whom. Does that make any sense? Do you know what it means? Like is this some sort of vision from the future?" with his mind going a thousand miles per hour, he started to hyperventilate so his mother had to calm him down "Hey, hey, calm down. Honey, breathe… come on, try to settle your breathing and your mind" she started to run her thumb over his hand in a soothing manner "it's not a vision from the future baby, that power is very rare, and the only person I know who can do it is Gold, so don't worry about it. It actually is your magic trying to warn you, like the weird feeling you had when you walked in here. Your magic senses a threat, and it's telling you to be aware of it. You can't place it exactly, because you are just starting to show you firsts sings of magic, that is all" Henry was glad that it wasn't a vision, "oh, great! I can't handle the idea of losing you forever mom, I really can't." hearing her son say that, Regina felt her eyes starting to tear up and started to wonder how was it possible that she could cry as much as she had been crying lately, but then he kept talking, "So, if I can't pinpoint the actual danger because I can't control my magic, does it mean that you can? I mean, Granny said that you could both feel it" the queen was a little worried about what her answer would do to her little prince, on one hand she didn't want to hurt him, because she knew how much he loved Emma, and on the other hand, she was worried that he wouldn't believe her and that he was going to leave her again. Either way, the outcome was not going to be good. Deciding that telling him the truth so that he could be prepared, and trying to help him process it all was better than to take the easy way out with a lie, she replied while looking him in the eyes "Henry, sweetie…mmm it's… baby, it's Emma".

The Blue Fairy entered the diner, with the rest of the fairies. She immediately saw the queen and Henry having lunch, and could feel the spell around them. Her first instinct was to look at Emma, to see if she had noticed it, but when she finally found the blonde she saw her staring at the duo with rage in her eyes. When the savior met her eyes, she subtly motioned for her to follow her to the back. Once they were both away from prying eyes Emma exploded "They didn't even say 'Hello' today! I can't even imagine the things that she's been feeding him to poison him against all of us! If I don't do anything, she is going to turn him into a villain as well! We have to hurry things up, like right now!". The fairy looked at her as if she were a petulant child that needed to be chastised "You must be patience Emma, we've talked about this. First gain your strength, and then we will act and defeat the queen. Don't worry about Henry, he will be fine, and any poison she tells him can surely me reversed by a few days with his real family." Once the blonde was a little bit more calm, Blue continued "I actually called you here because of the spell she was using" at the confused expression on Emma's face she carried on "She was using a sort of bubble spell on their table, I don't know witch one exactly, but this means that she's been lying to Henry. This is a good thing Emma! This helps our case. We have to keep track of this sort of small things, so that they will add up in the end. We will end her, I promise you that!" they both had strange evil eyes, and were grinning to each other. Little did they know, that Granny's wolf hearing let her eavesdrop on their conversation, after hearing this the cook immediately texted the queen _"Leave right after finishing lunch, act normal. I'll go by your place after the rush hour. I can't believe we didn't see this coming. Keep those children safe, child."_

On the other side of town, Gold was sensing the shifts in the town's magic. He didn't notice the changes in Emma and Regina, because he still only felt one light and one dark magic user. He didn't realize that they had switched places, because he hadn't been around either of them since Little Henry appeared. He did notice that there was a new magic user around, and he was trying to figure out who it was. He knew it couldn't have come from the outside world, because there had been no changes in the barrier, so he started to dig around a little. It didn't take him long to figure out who it was, but it surprised him the kind of magic the boy was carrying. It was a rare occurrence indeed, he actually didn't think the queen had it in her. He wasn't sure how this changed things, but it was an interesting development non-the less; magic wasn't inherited just by any kind on parental love, it was bigger than that. It was so big and rare in fact, that he didn't know if the queen herself realize the significance of Henry's magic. He had to get Belle's help, she knew more about prophesies and he remembered reading a specific one a long time ago that seem to be unraveling at the moment, he was shocked that it never occurred to him that Regina was going to be a part of it. He looked at his little crystal ball that showed Regina walking to her house, carrying Little Henry on her hip, and holding Henry's hand, "Interesting, very interesting, dearie".


	10. Chapter 10

_This chapter is a little longer, and has more dialogue in it. Let me know what you think. Thanks to everyone that's read this little story, and everyone who has written me a review. As usual, I apologize for the mistakes in here._

 _Still don't own anything…_

Henry just stared at his mother. He couldn't believe his ears, "I… What… I mean… What do you mean? Like, how is that possible? She is the savior… I don't understand mom" Regina took his hands in hers and looked him in the eyes, "I told you honey that a person's magic can change, I honestly don't think she notices the change, she probably thinks her train of thought is right". At that, the boy looked even more confused "She must notice mom, she is like radiating darkness or something, its super weird!" she gave him a little smile "I know, but when you are going through that yourself, you can't really tell, and you think that you are in the right side or, at least, you are doing things for a good reason". She spoke with a wisdom that came from experience, and he knew that.

"So, what's the plan now? I mean, we have to help her, right?"

"Of course we will honey, but I have to think about your safety first. I'm sorry baby, but I won't put you in danger, under any circumstance"

"Mom! Come on! We both know she is not after me. It's you that we need to be worried about, I mean, in my dreams it's me saving you, that means something right?"

"You don't have to worry about me sweetie, I can take care of myself. Not to brag" she looked playfully at him "but I know my way around a spell or two, and Emma's gun is no match for my magic"

"You have to teach me mom, at least the basics"

"I will teach you how to control it, but I don't want you to fight, least of all Emma baby. We need to help her, and try not to hurt her while doing so"

"Yes of course, but mom, I hate to say this, but it feels as if she is not joking around"

"I know my little prince" she rubbed his cheek "but we will manage, we will find a way, don't worry" when she saw that he wasn't convinced, she grabbed his chin and made him look up giving him a kiss on the cheek.

When they were about to finish their meal, she got the text from Granny telling her to leave as soon as possible. That got the queen's attention immediately, she was confident in her ability to protect Henry, both the toddler and the little boy, but if the old wolf was sending her a warning it had to be important. She hurried both kids up, and while they were walking home she couldn't help but think how grateful she was of having Granny on her side, she was an unexpected but very pleasant friend and ally.

After a few blocks, she could sense that someone was watching them, so she started to look around. When she didn't find anyone nearby, she knew it was a magic user, and seen as both Emma and all the fairies where at the diner she had no doubt that it was Gold. She made a mental note to see what he was up to later, but right now she needed to focus on her boys, she just hoped the imp wasn't planning anything to dangerous.

When Emma got back to her table, she started to talk to Snow as if nothing was bothering her. "Sorry about that mom, apparently Blue thought that the convent losing a couple of wine bottles was big enough to guarantee the sheriff's office attention" that was really a terrible lie, but she knew her mother would never doubt her, "Oh, that's weird, maybe one of the fairies gave it to someone for a special date or something, I doubt that they would drink it themselves." Snow White may have been a naïve little princess in her past, but she had been through too much in her life, and she most definitely had experience with people going into the path of darkness. She recognized all the signs coming from her daughter, she had seen them before with Regina but at the time she didn't know what they were. She had to get her husband's help, they had to do something before it was too late. But, she also knew that she couldn't just go against her all the sudden, because Emma would just pull away and they wouldn't get a chance to help her at all. She hoped that her daughter would know better than to dwell with dark magic, but she was aware of the danger that any kind of magic implied, so she was going to make sure Emma got back on the right track as soon as possible.

The rest of their lunch, Emma couldn't take her eyes away from Henry, she was still hurt that the toddler could barely stand her, and that the 11-year-old boy had chosen Regina over her. Snow picked up on that as well, and thought it was a safe topic to talk about "You know you can just go over there and try to talk to him, right? Regina did say that you could arrange another get together whenever Henry wanted it"

"That's the problem, he didn't even say hello when he walked in. I mean, it's obvious that queenie over there is feeding him lie after lie about us, just to get him to stay with her"

"I don't think she is doing that. You've seen her yourself, she is really trying. She deserves another chance, and the least we can do is give her one. Especially after how we handle the situation with Henry"

"We don't owe her anything! Are you kidding me? She destroyed our lives! She stole my baby boy from me! She planned this whole thing, she knew who Henry was, she never loved him. She just wants revenge, and I can't believe that you would suggest that WE hurt HER. I mean, is ridiculous. I still don't understand how we let Henry go to her house, it's like we threw him under the bus!"

"Emma calm down, we know for a fact that she didn't know the connection we had to Henry. And we have to acknowledge that she raised him. She is his mother, he told you that himself, we have to hear him out." Snow had left the comment of Regina stealing Henry slid, on purpose. That was so far off the truth, and it showed how far into her own delusion Emma was, it just got the princess more worried about her wellbeing.

Emma looked away, she just couldn't believe what her mother was saying. When she looked at Henry's table once again, he was getting up and about to leave. "Look, they are leaving, and he didn't even look at me. He is MY son. Mine, Regina shouldn't be allowed to be near him. I am his mother. Not her."

Seeing how agitated the blonde was, Snow tried to calm her down a bit "Text him in a little bit. He probably didn't notice that you were here, or was in some kind of hurry. I'm positive he still wants you in his life"

The savior nodded, and grabbed her phone _"Hey kid, saw you in the diner but you left before I could go over to your table. I miss you, and I would like for us to see each other, you could even bring little you along! It will be fun, I promise. Just let me know when you have the time. See you later buddy"._

Regina had hoped that Little Henry would go straight to bed. But the moment they arrived home, it was like a switch had been turn on. He ran up to the door, once they crossed the little fence in front of the house, and then went to the living room to start to make a little fort out of the cushions. "Momma! Can we get a couple of sheets down here? I wanna play with the other Henry!" the brunette looked from the toddler to the little boy, and saw that they both wanted to play in the living room "Ok, you guys can bring some stuff from upstairs" both boys cheered at that "But… you have to let me play with you!". Little Henry smiled and threw himself at his mother "Yes momma! Let's all play!" Henry smiled, now more excited, "I'll got get everything we will need. Maybe you could prepare a snack for all of us? Maybe a little more yummy than healthy" he gave her a cheeky look "We just had lunch, you can't possible be hungry!", she got her response while he was running up the stairs "I'm a growing boy! I'm always hungry!" Regina chuckled and went to the kitchen with Little Henry on her hip "I no hungry momma, are you?" she laughed at loud with that, "Me neither, I will prepare something just for him, and later for us, how about that?" the toddler smiled and nodded his head.

After a little while of playing, where her entire living room had been transformed into a giant mess of pillows and sheets, Little Henry started to get a bit cranky. She saw all the sings of a tantrum in the making, understandable considering that he hadn't had his nap yet. "Baby, how about you take a nap now?"

"No momma! I don't wanna sleep! We playing!"

"But sweetie, you are really tired, we can always play some more after you wake up."

"No, mommy, no! I wanna keep playing!"

The more unreasonable the toddler got, the more tired he actually was. He got so stubborn that Henry got a little worried "Hey ma, what do we do? I look like I'm about to explode over there" Regina laughed when he saw his face, it was funny watching the little boy realize how difficult toddlers could be "This is not my first time dealing with a tired toddler honey, and I know you more than anyone else, remember? I know exactly how to get you to go to bed". Saying this, the queen picked up the toddler, and took him outside.

Henry watched from the window how she rubbed the toddler's back in a soothing manner, while softly talking to him. Eventually she would point at something in the backyard, all the while rubbing his back, and swaying a little in her place. After about 15 min, she came back inside, with Little Henry asleep on her shoulder, and gestured to Henry to be quiet. She went upstairs and place the little boy in the middle of her bed, surrounding him with pillows so that he wouldn't fall. She stayed there for a while staring at the baby boy for what felt like hours, so much so, that the 11-year-old Henry showed up at her bedroom door. At first, he just looked at her, watching him sleep. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been thinking that she didn't love him. It was more than obvious, he still felt bad about the way he had treated her, but was glad that they were working on their relationship now. "Mom, let him sleep. Come on, lets go back to the kitchen, we could bake some brownies". She put her arm around him, giving him a side hug, and laughed "It's like you will neve be full! You really are always hungry, aren't you?"

After they put the brownies in the oven, Henry looked up at his mother.

"I love you mom, I really do"

"I love you too honey, more than anything. You know that, right?" she said reaching for his hand.

"Yes, I do. But just seeing you with little me, I just can't help but think how badly I messed up. I know we said we wouldn't apologize anymore, but I really am sorry mom. I don't get how you can forgive me so easily"

"I told you that there is nothing in this world that you could do, that I wouldn't forgive. Literally nothing, baby. So, stop apologizing, and let's enjoy this peace and quiet that we have right now!" she said trying to light up the mood a bit.

"Ok, yeah, you are right." And as an after thought he added "I got a text from Emma earlier, after we left the diner. She saw us, and I'm pretty sure she is not happy that I didn't go over to her table"

"I can understand that. She is right, you should had gone over and say hello to her. She is going through a rough time, so your love means a lot to her"

"I know, I feel bad about it. But I honestly didn't think of it at the time. I was so focus on our conversation, it totally slipped my mind. I will text her apologizing, but she also wants us to get together, with little me as well."

"And how do you feel about that?" she didn't know how she felt leaving her child with someone that was turning dark, saying that she wasn't sold on that idea would be an understatement.

"I don't know, I kind of want to see her, but at the same time I don't. It's like I miss the Emma that she was before the curse broke, when she knew I was your son, and that she had to respect that. And on top of that, I don't know how I will cope with the weird feeling I get whenever she is around, I definitely don't want her to notice it."

"I know, it would be best if she didn't realize that we thought something was off with her. But most importantly, the less people that know about your powers, the better. So far, it's just me, Granny and Gold. Let's try to keep it that way"

"Gold? Did you tell him?"

"God no, I felt him watching us. You know how he is, he probably knows more about your magic than we do"

"You are right, maybe we could go ask him."

"Yes, I already thought about it. We have to wait for Granny to come over in a little while, and then we will head over to his shop. What are you going to tell Emma?"

"I guess we could see her tomorrow, with you there I mean. I really don't want to be alone with her mom."

"It's ok baby, don't worry. I actually think that is our best option. But don't tell her that you don't want to be alone with her, it would only make things worse… just tell her that Little You doesn't want to go anywhere without me"

"Yeah, great, I'll text her in a bit. Why is Granny coming over, don't get me wrong, I love that you guys are friend, but we just saw her."

"She texted me while we were in the diner, saying that she had found out something important. She wants to warn me, I guess. We just have to see what it is about. But don't worry, I can handle anything, I am the Evil Queen after all" she tried to keep him from worrying about her.

"You are not evil mom, don't say that about yourself! But you are right, you can handle it, I believe in you"

Regina's eyes well up with tears, she still couldn't believe how her relationship with her son had improved in such a short amount of time. She was not going to complain, and was going to enjoy every second of it.

Henry grabbed his phone and finally replied to Emma's text " _Hey, sorry I didn't go over earlier, I didn't really notice. I would love to see you! But my mom will have to come because Little Me freaks out every time she is out of his sight. Are you free tomorrow? We could go get ice-creams, or something. See you later, and I truly am sorry about earlier, Bye!"_

After a while, there was a knock on the door. She knew that it was the wolf, and was glad that she hadn't ringed the bell, because Little Henry was still sleeping. "Hey Granny, come in!" she greeted the older woman.

"Henry honey, maybe you should go to your room and wait for us to talk a little"

"No way mom! If this has to do with Emma I want to know. How am I supposed to help you if I don't know what the problem is?"

"Your kid has a point, child. He can hear about this, he may be young, but he is really smart. Besides, this son of yours will probably end up saving us all!"

Regina shook her head with a smile "Yes, I know, but I hope I do all the savings around here until he is done growing."

"Yeah, maybe he should at least start shaving before he starts saving" the cook laughed at her own joke "but like I said, don't worry about this one. You would end up telling him anyways"

That was the end of that discussion, and the three of them went to the living room to sit down, luckily, they had cleaned everything up before Granny got there, so things looked normal again. Regina was the first one to speak up.

"I got to tell you, your text really freaked me out at first. What was so alarming that we had to leave?"

"I truly am sorry child, but I got so upset. I couldn't believe that we hadn't thought about this before. Emma is planning something, and she has help"

"What do you mean by planning, and who is helping her? Is she trying to hurt my mom?"

"Blue is helping her. That little I-am-better-than-everyone fairy is just trying to get some sort of revenge against you Regina, and has found the perfect helper in Emma"

"Oh god, of course, Blue of all people was going to help Emma. That little moth always had something against me, even when I was a child! She is going to turn Emma dark, because her magic can't do harm"

"Wow, wow, wow, you are telling me that Mother Superior is going to train Emma? As in, with her magic?"

"Yes kid, she is. I heard them while they were in the back of the diner. They didn't take into account my wolf hearing. But don't worry, we will get to the bottom of things before Emma is able to hurt anyone"

"So, fairies can't turn dark? It's that why she wants to use Emma?"

"No sweetie, they can. The Black Fairy is one of the most powerful creatures out there, and it is as darks as anyone, or anything, gets. But with fairies the transformation is different. When a person starts to have bad thoughts, or wants to harm somebody else, they start to change from within, and that change is not really reflected in their appearance, but it does affect their magic. With fairies, it doesn't matter what their intentions are because they use a certain number of spells, all within the 'light magic' spectrum. The moment one of them deviates from those spells, and does anything with 'dark magic' they are changed completely. They changed colors, their wands change, even their names."

"Exactly, which is why I think Blue is using Emma. It would go unnoticed. Emma is able to change slowly into a darker version of herself, and reveal her intentions at the last minute. If we hadn't noticed any of this, and Blue hadn't been such an idiot believing that nobody would realize what was going on, then it would have been a problem. But we have time, we can talk some sense into Emma before she does anything stupid"

Hearing Granny really calmed Henry down, for a moment after his mother's speech he was concerned for her safety

"We can make things better then, we can help Emma without anyone getting hurt"

"Yes baby, that is the plan. But I think maybe we should start slowly, trying to show her in a subtle way that she is loved, and that nobody is trying to hurt her. Because a full intervention would just be counter productive at this point. Especially if she knows that I had anything to do with it."

"You are right child, maybe you, Henry, could start by getting close to her again. Although I do believe that we should get Snow and David involved here, they are our best chance in helping her before this goes out of hand"

"As much as I hate to say this, we will probably need Snow's help here. And it is her daughter after all, I would think she will like to help her. The tricky part will be trying to make her see that there is a problem here."

"Don't worry about that child, leave that to me. Snow may be a spoiled princess sometimes, but she is not an idiot… well, not a complete idiot at least."

By the time Granny left, Little Henry was already up and had had a little snack. After getting both boys ready to go outside, Regina decided to go to Gold's shop, and try to figure out what he was doing snooping around her son. Entering the place, she saw Belle on the counter.

"Hey Regina, I see that your adorable little companion is still with us" she said smiling at the toddler, who smiled back at her from his mother's arms.

"Hey! I'm still adorable Belle, and I'm always here!"

"Of course you are Henry, I didn't mean it like that" she said ruffling his hair "It's just weird that there are two of you, that is all" Henry accepted that answer with a little nod, so Regina started talking about what had brought them there.

"Is Gold around? We would like to talk to him"

"I'm here dearie." Rumple said coming out from the back room "Belle, would you mind taking the toddler with you for a bit, this conversation is going to be a little too weird for him" seeing the doubt in the queen's eyes, and the way that her hold on Little Henry tighten, he added "It's just for a few minutes Regina, no need to be upset"

"I would love to take him for a bit, and don't worry Regina, we will be at the front of the shop, never out of your sight"

Realizing that Belle would never harm her child, and seeing as she really needed to talk to Gold she nodded and handed over the toddler to the princess. Once they were out of earshot Gold continued.

"Seeing as Henry is here, I'm going to assume that you noticed his magic has been awoken"

"Yes, I know, but I came because I wanted to know why you are interested in it. I'm his mother, I'm supposed to notice, you on the other hand are just meddling in other people's lives"

"No, no dearie, no need to be so defensive. I am not meddling, I just simply keep track of the magic in town and I came to notice his, that is all. I don't have any plans involving him, if that is what you are wondering. "

Regina sighed, relieved that her baby boy wasn't being used as a pawn on one of Gold's plans, but then again, why was he telling her all of this? "Why are you being so nice? What is this really about?"

"I don't need a plan, because I already know what it will happen" at the queen's glare he said "and for once in your life, I am not a part of this at all. I just am aware of the prophesy"

"What prophesy? Am I in a prophesy?" Henry said, talking for the first time since Gold showed up.

"Yes, my boy, you are. You and your mother"

"What prophesy? Quit playing games and tells us Gold!"

"Well, what would be the fun in that? I will just give you a clue, and if you are as good a student as we both know you are, you will know what I mean" Regina looked more than annoyed at this point, and Gold just took his time just to mess with her "Have you ever heard of the term 'Lost soul'?"

The moment he said those words, Regina's eyebrows went up, almost to her hairline. "Thank you, Rumple… really" with that she turned around, grabbing Henry's hand, but seeing the sincerity in her eyes Gold realize something "So it finally happened then… you've gone soft"

"I've never been stronger, and you know it"

Gold laughed at her comment "Yes, indeed, you are stronger than you've ever been, but still, you are soft… Of course, that means somebody else is not being nice around town" Regina nodded her head "I know, and I will fix that".


End file.
